Golf club construction



July 25, 1961 w. R. BIRCH ETAL GOLF CLUB cous'mucnou Filed May 1, 1959 HW mm mmm MRH mm Mu WW 2,993,695 GOLF CLUB CONSTRUCTION William R. Birch and William H. Fanning, Norwood,

Ohio, assignors of one-tenth part to Gadget-Of-The- Month Club, Inc., North Hollywood, Calif, a corporation of California Filed May 1, 1959, Ser. No. 810,381 2 Claims. (Cl. 273-805) The present invention consists of an improved golf club construct-ion adapted to very positively non-rotatively join junction means at the lower end of a golf club shaft to the hosel of a golf club head along the entire length of the contacting parts of said junction portion of the golf club shaft and the hosel of the golf club head. It will be noted that the fact that the non-rotative engagement of the golf club shaft with respect to the golf club head is accomplished along the entire length of the hosel and the inserted part of the junction portion at the lower end of the golf club shaft and makes such a strong non-rotative junction that there can be no relative deflection therebetween when the golf clubis used to strike a golf ball with considerable force. This is extremely portant because any measure of deflection between the golf club head and the golf club shaft when the head forcibly strikes a golf ball, will very unfavorably affect the accuracy of the shot.

Furthermore, it should be noted that conventional prior art golf clubs effect a non-rotative junction between the golf club shaft and the hosel of the golf club in a very limited region and in a manner such that relative deflection between the golf club head and the golf club shaft may easily occur as a golf ball is struck with considerable force.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved golf club construction, wherein junction means at the lower end of a golf club shaft is provided with longitudinal keyway means adapted to be inserted into and positively non-rotatively engaged with corresponding keyed portions along the interior of a hosel of a golf club head whereby the non-rotative junction of the hosel and the junction means at the lower end of the golf club shaft will occur along the entire interengaged areas thereof whereby to provide an extremely strong and nondefiectable non-rotative junction therebetween.

It is a further object to provide a device of the character set forth in the preceding object, wherein an appropriately keyed insert plug is adapted to be inserted upwardly into a hollow lower end of the junction means of the golf club shaft when said junction means of the golf club shaft is in non-rotative and keyed inserted relationship Within the keyed hosel means; said insert plug being correspondingly keyed and adapted to contact and support the keyed interior surface of said junction means at the lower end of said golf club shaft whereby said junction means will be forcibly retained between the inner exteriorly keyed tapered plug and the outer interiorly keyed hosel engaging the interior and exterior keyed surfaces, respectively, of said junction means at.

the lower end of said golf club shaft.

It is a further object to provide a device of the char acter set forth in the preceding object, wherein said keyed insert plug is tapered and adapted to be forcibly upwardly driven into the hollow junction means at the lower end of the golf club shaft when it is in inserted keyed position within the hosel, wherein to positively lock the assembled golf club head and golf club shaft structure together.

It is a further object to provide a device of the character set forth in any of the preceding objects, which is of extremely simple, cheap, foolproof construction such as to be conducive to widespread use thereof.

ted States Patent Further objects will be apparent to persons skilled in the art after a careful study hereof.

For the purpose of clarifying the nature of the present invention, one exemplary embodiment is illustrated in the hereinbelow-described figures of the accompanying single sheet of drawings, and is described in detail hereinafter.

FIG. 1 is a greatly reduced size perspective view of one exemplary form of the present invention as embodied in a complete golf club of the type customarily known as an iron. 7

FIG. 2 is a larger scale fragmentary view of the lower end of the golf club illustrated in FIG. 1 showing the golf club head, the hosel carried thereby, the junction means at the lower end of the golf club shaft in inserted keyed relationship within the hosel of the golf club head, and an insertion plug driven upwardly thereinto to positively support the non-rotative junction of the hosel and the junction means at the lower end of the golf club shaft.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken in the direction of the arrows 33 of FIG. 2 and clearly illustrates the keyed assembled relationship of the hosel means, the junction means at the lower end of the golf club shaft, and the tapered keyed insert plug.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the longitudinally keyed junction means at the lower end of the golf club shaft.

FIG. 5 is an elevational view of the junction means of FIG. 4 as seen in a direction at right angles thereto.

FIG. 6 is a bottom view of FIG. 2.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged sectional view taken in the direction of the arrows 77 of FIG. 2.

In the specific embodiment of the invention illustrated, the golf club shaft takes one specific form, indicated generally at 10, wherein it is preferably made of high strength metallic material, such as alloy steel, or the like, is provided with a conventional type handle portion 11 at one end thereof adapted to be manually grasped by a golfer when using the club, and is provided with junction means, indicated generally at 12, which is at the lower end of the shaft 10 and which, in the specific example illustrated, takes one specific form wherein it is of generally cylindrical hollow tubular metallic construction having opposed inwardly recessed and inwardly concave longitudinal keyways 13 extending from the lower end 14 thereof upwardly to a terminus point 15 thereof. The precise purpose and function of the junction means 12 and the opposed inwardly recessed longitudinal keyways 13 will be described in detail hereinafter.

In the specific example illustrated, the abo-vementioned golf club head takes one specific form of the so-called iron type, as indicated generally at 16, and includes a striking head portion 17 and a longitudinal upwardly directed hosel portion indicated generally at 18, which has a hollow interior aperture running from the bottom at 19 to the top 26 thereof; said interior aperture being indicated by the reference numeral 21 and being longitudinally vertically keyed in a reciprocal and mating fashion with respect to the longitudinal keyways 13 carried by the junction means 12 at the lower end of the golf club shaft 10, whereby said junction means 1 2 of the golf club shaft 10 may be sl-idably inserted into the correspondingly keyed aperture 21 in the hosel 18 whereby the inwardly convex keyed portions 22 of the hosel 18 will firmly engage the longitudinal keyways 13 of the junction means 12 at the lower end of the shaft 10, as is best shown in the cross-sectional view comprising FIG. 3. It will be understood that this keyed non-rotative engagement of the junction means 12 at the lower end of the shaft 10 within the hosel 18 extends along the entire length of the engaged surfaces of said junction means 12 and said hosel 18,

the golf club head 16 and the golf club shaft is eifected.

A keyed insert plug, which in the specific example illustrated is also tapered, is indicated generally at 23 and is keyed along the length thereof in a manner similar to but of slightly lesser dimension than the interior of the keyed junction means 12 at the lower end of the golf club shaft 10, whereby when said tapered longitudinally keyed insert plug 23 is shoved upwardly through the aperture best shown at 19 in FIGS. 2. and 6, it will interiorly support the keyed junction means 12 at the lower end of the golf club shaft 10, which is at the same time exteriorly supported by the interiorly keyed hosel 18; the arrange ment being such that forcing the tapered insert plug 23 into the fully inserted position best shown in FIG. 7, will result in positively locking the entire assembly together and forming a very strong, rigid, and non-rotative connection between the golf club shaft 10 and the golf club head 16 by means of the junction means 12, the hosel 18, and the insert plug 23, all of which are correspondingly keyed along the entire engaged portions thereof.

Also, in the specific embodiment of the invention illustrated, a faired tapered interiorly cylindrically apertured cover member is indicated generally at 24 and is carried in exterior encircling relationship around the junction means 12 at the lower end of the golf club shaft 10 immediately above the upper terminating edge 20 of the hosel 18 whereby to provide a smooth continuous faired and tapered junction therewith which is desirable to protect and cover the upper edge 20 of the hosel 18.

It should be noted that suitable knurling for enhancing engagement of various portions may be employed, if desired.

It should be understood that the figures and the specifi description thereof set forth in this application are for the purpose of illustrating the present invention and are not to be construed as limiting the present invention to the precise and detailed specific structure shown in the figures and specifically described hereinbefore. Rather, the real invention is intended to include substantially equivalent constiuctions embodying the basic teachings and inventive concept of the present invention.

We claim:

1. An improved golf club construction, comprising: a longitudinal golf club shaft of high strength steel having handle means at one end thereof and junction means at the other end thereof, said junction means comprising a hollow cylindrical tubular lower end of said golf club shaft having opposed fluted inwardly oppositely curvedly recessed longitudinal keyway means extending along a portion of the length thereof on opposite sides thereof; a golf club head member including a head portion and an upwardly directed hollow hosel open at the bottom and the top and having longitudinally directed keyway means matingly shaped for non-rotative reception of, and continuous surface-contacting engagement with, said junction means and said longitudinal keyway means carried thereby along the entire corresponding mating lengths thereof and extending from the open bottom to the open top of the hollow hosel, whereby to positively nonrotatively lock said hosel and said junction means at the lower end of the golf club shaft along the entire length of the engagement of the junction means and the hosel between the open bottom and the open top thereof; and a tapered interior supporting plug keyed along the length thereof in a manner exactly similar to but slightly smaller than the junction means and taperingly upwardly inserted thereinto through the open bottom of the hosel when said junction means is in fully inserted position in said hosel whereby to forcibly support the entire interior surface of said junction means while said hosel forcibly supports the entire exterior surface thereof, thus providing a positively taper-locked non-rotative junction of the junction means and the hosel along the length thereof between the open top thereof and the open bottom thereof carried at the bottom of one side of the head portion of the golf club head member.

2. A device of the character defined in claim 1, including a faired tapered interiorly apertured cover member carried by the exterior of said junction means in contact with the upper end of said hosel whereby to provide a smooth continuous junction therewith.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,695,806 Heller Dec. 18, 1928 1,787,415 Washington Dec. 30, 1930 1,916,963 Bnhrke et al July 4, 1933 2,050,801 Lard Aug. 11, 1936 

